Financial planning is well-known and readily appreciated by those of skill in the art. Typically, a customer chooses to begin planning for their financial future by purchasing a financial planning product from a financial planning provider. The financial planning provider then must obtain financial data relating to the financial situation of the customer. The obtaining of the customer's financial data for financial planning purposes raises a number of issues.
In order to obtain the customer's financial data for financial planning, a paper questionnaire is typically mailed out the customer. The paper questionnaire includes questions which, when answered, give the current financial situation of the customer in order to support a discussion on how to deal with the customers finances in order to achieve the customers financial goals. The paper questionnaire must include every question that might need to be asked of a customer, which results in a lengthy document which, for any given customer, will include a number of questions which are unnecessary for that particular customer. For example, a customer who is single does not need to be asked about details pertaining to a married customer. However, the paper questionnaire will typically include questions pertaining to a married customer throughout the paper questionnaire such that one questionnaire may be used for all customers. The customer enters their financial information on the questionnaire and then mails it back to the financial planning provider. The financial planning provider must then typically go over the information provided by the customer to correct mistakes and/or inconsistencies in the information provided, which can sometimes result in the need to mail the questionnaire back to the customer for correction. Once the paper questionnaire is corrected, the financial data from the questionnaire is entered into a database and a financial report is generated from that financial data. The financial report is then mailed to the customer, and the customer is contacted to discuss options for financial planning based on the financial report.
Such conventional methods of financial planning result in a time intensive process that includes a high error rate, resulting in a generally bad customer experience which can delay the financial planning for the customer.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide for financial planning absent the disadvantages discussed above.